It was a mild summer day on the Kenai River, on Alaska's Kenai Peninsula. Marre, 73, a retired food broker from Oak Brook, had hooked a king-sized chinook, or king salmon.

The Kenai River is where the world-record rod-and-reel-caught chinook was taken, a 97 1/4-pound giant landed by a mild-mannered local fellow named Les Anderson in 1985.

Marre never thought he had the biggest fish of all time on his line. But there was a twist. Anderson landed his behemoth on 25-pound test line, and Kenai River guides typically provide rods with 30-pound test.

By comparison, Marre was using thread--12 pound test. But this is his specialty. Marre likes the challenge of catching big fish on lighter-than-recommended tackle.

Sitting in a boat, Marre was eating an oatmeal cookie, rod holstered, shortly before noon on the glacial-fed waters when his hook found the mouth of a willing subject.

Most of the approximately 75 charter boats in the area were headed to port. Good thing. Marre needed plenty of room and plenty of time--35 minutes--before he could declare victory.

Marre brought a 64-pound, 8-ounce chinook to the boat and his guide, Carl Nobel, operator of Fish Tales charters, netted it. According to the National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame in Hayward, Wis., that is a world record for salmon caught on 12-pound test. The fish was 53 1/2 inches long and its girth measured 32 1/4 inches.

Marre is no stranger to such conquests. Before this fishing season, Marre owned four record listings for chinook catches, all from the Kenai River, and held three coho salmon records, all established in Alaska.

Marre set his 12-pound test record July 17 and a week later set a record for 16-pound test with a 56-6 king. The old record? 47-10, caught by Eugene Marre in 1991.

King salmon of 45 pounds and up are often once-in-a-lifetime catches. Clearly Marre has a knack not only for catching big salmon but also for outmaneuvering them using line only slightly sturdier than dental floss.

There's more than a little irony to Marre's love affair with Kenai kings. He spent much of his career marketing Alaska salmon--red sockeye and pink salmon--in cans. He flew to Alaska as many as three times a year on business but didn't fish.

He finally got the chance to fish on the world famous river in 1986 and has returned every year since. The combination of the scenery, the bright green color of the river and the chance to catch the biggest salmon anywhere lured Marre.

"There's a kind of tranquility out there," he said. "It's a highly productive river. And it's the home of what I consider a magnificent animal."

Ted Dzialo, executive director of the Hall of Fame, said Marre had to provide supporting statements from two witnesses at the weigh-in on a certified scale, photos, and the fishing line itself for record approval, and said that he was particularly impressed with Marre's 12-pound test prize.

"You can't horse the fish," Dzialo said. "You've got to let the fish have its head until it gets tired."

Or until the fishermen does.

"He was breathing pretty hard," guide Nobel said of Marre. "He had to sit down for a couple of minutes."

Marre was ready to surrender. "It was totally ridiculous," he said. "It was goofy."

Marre guessed that he could have boated the fish in a third of the time by using 30-pound test.

Most Kenai River king salmon guides take three or four people in their boats. Knowing that he is going to eat up more expensive guide time on a strike, Marre only fishes in twosomes, usually with his wife, Jane, who landed kings of 40 and 47 pounds this trip.

There was about a 1 1/2-hour lag time before Marre's 64-8 king was weighed on shore, but even if the delay meant a loss of weight, Marre wasn't worried because the old record was 50 pounds.

"I knew it was a good fish," Marre said. "It didn't take a rocket scientist to know where this fish was."

Jane was fishing with Marre when he landed the 16-pound test record.

"My wife was there [praying] with her rosary," Marre said. "She starts talking to all the apostles because they were all fishermen."

This was no valedictory Alaskan tour for Marre. He already has reservations for five days of Kenai River fishing next July when he plans to fish with 14-pound test. The 64-pound record in that class is 18 years old.

Marre thinks that record would look good with his name next to it.ON THE OUTDOORS BY LEW FREEDMAN

There was about a [90-minute] lag time before Marre's 64-8 king was weighed on shore, but even if the delay meant a loss of weight, Marre wasn't worried because the old record was 50 pounds.